Is Rafa in trouble?
By: Rob | October 20th, 2009
So, Liverpool suffered a loss again this evening, to Lyon in the Champions League. At the end of the game, Liverpool fans were chanting for Rafa’s head. Now while it isn’t always a good indication, it does say a fair bit about the situation at Anfield.
After a really impressive season last time around, where they could have won the title had they not drawn against a few lesser teams, expectations were naturally fairly high for this season. And yet, and yet.
They are now facing an uphill struggle to get through the group stage of the Champions League (only points a 1-0 win against group whipping boys Debrecren) and the beach-ball fiasco ensured a fourth loss of the season, and 8th place. Manchester United are the next team on the fixture list.
But is Rafa really in danger of the chop?
While a loss against United at the weekend would cap off an absolutely dreadful week to be a Liverpool supporter, I’m not entirely sure Liverpool are going to be weilding the axe around Rafa just yet.
The owners seem to want to sell the club. Thus, getting in someone else, their own man, doesn’t entirely make sense.
There is also the fact that the title race looks absurdly open this season. Liverpool might have lost 4 times, but Arsenal and Chelsea have both lost twice each, and Man United have been beaten already. So a win at the weekend does widen it up a little. I don’t think there is going to a be a runaway leader this year.
Also, Rafa has been in this position for Liverpool before, and done rather well out of it. They appeared to struggle in the 2004–05 Champions League, and then they went on to win the bloody thing.
He does have to turn it around soon though. Maybe he should start by playing Yossi Benayoun for 90 minutes now and then? He often appears to be one of Liverpool’s best players, and yet he seems constantly undervalued by Benitez.
Some Related Premier League Posts:
Category: 
Comments
-
half the squad was injured from the start of the season. we STILL don’t have a complete squad. First it was the defenders that were out, now they’re back in, and the attackers are injured.
rafa is not god. you cant win if half your team in getting injured.
give him man city/ man utd/ chelsea’s money, and THEN judge him.
-
Without looking up the actual numbers, hasn’t Rafa spent in excess of 200m since arriving at Anfield?
-
Yeah Rob, various sites have it in the neighborhood of 200-230m. Which is a lot. Unfortunately, I think the easiest way to try to excuse any call for Rafa’s job is by bringing up money, which, as the numbers show, doesn’t really prove anything. I think the injury angle is much more valid, or the backroom trouble, or even irritable bowel syndrome. But yeah, he needs some good results, and fast. So does my liver.
-
I don’t like Jose, but he was right on when he said no manager of a club that stature in Italy would last 5 years with one trophy to show for it.
-
Problem is that Benayoun likes to play just off the striker, and he is never going to keep Gerrard out of the team..
-
hmmm.. I really think that this optimism should stop.. Bcoz yes its possible that all d other top 4 teams could lose 5 games this season, but can v really c liverpool win every single match from now on.. Chuck that, in their current state, i cant c them win a single game in d near future.. I really think its tym 4 pool 2 jus consolidate, jus make sure they get atleast a goalless draw.. Then think bout winning.. Otherwise, leave d league, they may not even progress in d cl
-
Liverpool seem to struggle in the Champions League group stages every year, didn’t they only get through in the last game last year and in second place? As much as I am enjoying Liverpool’s start to the season it would be a huge mistake to sack Rafa, and I think everyone knows that. Not yet anyway. Maybe they are missing Alonso more than they thought?
-
“Give him Man U/Shitty/Chelski/Arsenal’s moneybags, and…”
Rafa’s spend since arriving at Liverpool (6 seasons) : 210M£ (from soccerbase) for a net result of 90.72M£ spent.
Ferguson’s spend over the past 6 seasons : 122.85M£ (from soccerbase) for a net result of -5.7M£ spent (on transfers alone, Manchester United have “earned” almost a million a season).Unless there’s some novel logic on the beaches of the Mersey, Rafa has spent more money than Ferguson over the same timeframe. Both in absolute and relative terms. I’m sure someone could take the time and effort to see if he has spent more than Arsenal, Chelsea, Tottenham, City, etc, but I doubt it would be substantially less than any of those clubs (save perhaps Chelsea), if not actually outspending them.
Of course, the next argument in line is “but he inherited a crap group of players/You’re not counting players like Ferdinand who were bought before Rafa joined Liverpool at enormous costs”
Well, let’s expand the timeframe to the past 10 years. A few homegrown players remain on either side, but no major purchases that are still playing, I believe.
Liverpool’s spend : 289.6M£ (soccerbase) – net result 127.005M£
Manchester United’s spend : 265.14M£ (soccerbase) – net result 58.39M£Whilst a lot closer in absolute terms, the net result is still substantially different. Of course, this comparaison is slightly flawed, since Ferguson has been at the head of Man U for the entire period, and has thus been able to identify the playing style he wants to recruit players for over a longer time-frame, whilst Benitez inherited some players from Houllier that did not fit into his plans. Houllier was however not a big spender (79.55M£ in the last 4 years, net result of 36.285M£ spent, substantially less than Benitez). Price inflation seems a relatively weak argument, since 2000/01 and to a lesser degree 2001/02 were still in the “2000″ bubble that was only bettered this year. However, it is true that since Chelsea’s buyout by Abramovic, prices on the English market are slightly higher, thus contributing to increased spend by Benitez when compared with Houllier.
So, on to the players he inherited. Whilst some were pants, others were quite OK, although Benitez felt a major overhaul was required. During Houllier’s last 4 seasons, Liverpool finished 3rd, 2nd, 5th and 4th, whilst reaching the quarter-finals of the Champions’ League and winning the UEFA Cup, FA Cup, two League Cups, the UEFA Super Cup and a Charity Shield. Not the greatest performances ever, but clearly the makings of a “top 4″ team in the UK, despite Houllier being sacked for not winning a trophy nor finishing on the podium in the league. Benitez won the CL in his first season and was runner-up in the League Cup, despite only minor squad additions, so it can’t have been that bad a team.
As for the final league rankings, Rob, whilst there might not be a runaway winner, it’s unlikely that the league will be won with fewer points than last season so far : Man U are on 22 points after 9 games rather than 18 last season, Chelsea are on 21 points after 9 games rather than 20 last season, Arsenal are on 18 points after 8 games rather than 16 last season, Tottenham, Villa and Man City are respectively 14, 2 and 7 points better off than this point last season too…
The match schedule means that it’s still a bit hasty to say if a team is going to perform better or worse than last season, but after another 5-6 games we’ll have a better idea. So far however, it’s looking more like the title will be clinched above 90 points, meaning that Liverpool would only have 12 “disposable” points to win the title… If it’s 90 points and they have a massive goal difference. Perhaps the “big 4″ teams will drop points to Tottenham, City, Villa as well as each other, meaning that the winning total is lower, but that’ll only be evident once a few more matches between these teams have been played.
-
I think Rafa has to go at the end of the year
Home 
